Comment

The Diary

  • Parental control

    A BEARSDEN teenager was telling his pals yesterday of the magical powers of his parents after they left him home alone at the weekend.

    Ken Smith
  • Key to true love

    THE death of sculptor George Wyllie, of paper boat and straw locomotive fame, reminds architect Tom McKay of the artist's wicked sense of humour.

    Ken Smith
  • Time please

    A GLASGOW reader tells us he visited his late-night corner store where he asked the salesperson what time they closed.

    Ken Smith
  • Stir it up

    WE hear of a Glasgow office where the boss was organising a large conference, and sent a member of staff to buy a bundle of the little plastic sticks for folk to stir the cups of coffee they would be offered.

    Ken Smith
  • Far sighted?

    GLASS eyes continued. John Sword at Glasgow meat market  remembers his father telling him about catching the no. 2 bus in Stockwell Street with a friend who had a glass eye.

    Ken Smith
  • Getting sniffy

    JUDE MacLaverty was buying a muffin in a Glasgow coffee shop when the assistant took a deep sniff of the cake before putting it in a bag.

    Ken Smith
  • Shot in the dark

    A FINAL mistranslation as former colleague Jimmy Watson recalls harmonica virtuoso Larry Adler telling of the time he lived in Paris where he saw a John Wayne western in which the great man swaggered into a saloon and snarled at the barkeep: "Gimme a shot of redeye."

    Ken Smith
  • Barking mad?

    AFTER the weekend's variety show on the telly, a reader writes: "I'm losing faith in the British public and their right to vote.

    Ken Smith

Tom Shields On...

  • Olympic knitwits

    We have traipsed round this track before but the idiocy of the London Olympics merchandise police knows no bounds.

  • streets behind

    There'S no great rush this side of the Border to arrange street parties for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

  • those who say No

    Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is to join the No campaign.

  • dome alone

    I read that a stately pleasure dome has been decreed.

  • End of the dream

    THERE is bad news on retirement.

  • Saving private dining

    THE economic downturn is changing people's living habits, with almost 19 million people in Britain no longer throwing dinner parties because of the expense.

  • Dave approval

    DAVID Cameron's approval rating is at its lowest ever level.

  • cash canines

    BRITAIN'S dog owners are seeing their pets in a new light.

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Letters

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Columnists & Bloggers

In Praise Of...

  • In praise of - dragons.

    DRAGONS get a bad press in the West.

  • In praise of - passing places.

    When travelling on the single tracks of Scotland's rural byways, you can always tell locals from tourists by the way passing places are respected, ignored – or downright abused.

  • In praise of - salt and sauce.

    The first speaks for itself, of course.

  • In praise of - a less ephemeral world.

    THERE was a time when we had constants; pop stars hung around the charts for years, favourite football teams had players whose names you recognised (and were paid wages that weren't obscene) and politicians seemed to have solid political platforms, rather than operating from the children's soft sand pit they play in today.

  • In praise of - the transit of venus.

    LET me first clear up a possible misconception.

Obituaries